First-Time Perfection: Mozart's 'Marriage of Figaro' : NPR The scheming Count Almaviva (Erwin Schrott, left) and Basilio the music master (Benjamin Bruns) prop up a swooning Susanna (Slyvia Schwartz), the object of the Count's nefarious affections. Michael Pohn/Wiener Staatsoper hide caption toggle caption Michael Pohn/Wiener Staatsoper The scheming Count Almaviva (Erwin Schrott, left) and Basilio the music master (Benjamin Bruns) prop up a swooning Susanna (Slyvia Schwartz), the object of the Count's nefarious affections. Michael Pohn/Wiener Staatsoper The Hit Single At the start of Act Two, we meet Countess Almaviva (soprano Dorothea Röschmann) for the first time. She quickly reveals herself as the opera's most poignant character in the aria "Dove sono," as she wonders what has happened to her formerly happy marriage. Dove Sono Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus Franz Welser-Möst, conductor Mozart's Figaro is one of the rare examples of a successful literary sequel.

The original play by Beaumarchais was a follow-up to his previous hit, The Barber of Seville. The first audiences for Mozart's opera knew that play — and we still know it through the operatic version by Rossini. So for many people, this opera's characters are already quite familiar. But their circumstances have changed. In The Barber of Seville, a young nobleman named Almaviva wins his lover Rosina away from her lecherous guardian Dr. Bartolo, with considerable help from the Count's friend, Figaro. As The Marriage of Figaro begins, it's three years later. The young lovers are now the Count and Countess Almaviva. Figaro is the Count's personal valet, and he's engaged to marry the Countess' maid, Susanna. As ACT ONE opens, Figaro and Susanna are preparing for their wedding. They're slated to occupy a room between the private chambers of the Count and the Countess. Figaro thinks that will work out just fine. Susanna's not so sure. She tells Figaro that the Count has had his eye on her.

In their new room, all he'll have to do is send Figaro off on an errand, and the Count will be right next door to press his advances. Figaro can't believe that his old friend the Count could be that underhanded. But Susanna convinces him, and Figaro begins to display the trademark cunning and confidence that were also evident in The Barber of Seville. We then meet Figaro's old nemesis Dr. Bartolo and his housekeeper, the aging Marcellina. Figaro has borrowed money from Bartolo. To secure the loan he agreed to marry Marcellina if he couldn't pay it back. Now the debt is due, and Bartolo demands that Figaro live up to their bargain. Next, Susanna is alone in her room when the young page Cherubino rushes in. He's in the throes of adolescence, and says he's desperately in love with the Countess. But he's also been caught with one of the servant girls and the Count is hot on his heels. When the Count shows up, Cherubino hides and eavesdrops on the Count's latest proposition for Susanna. When the Count finds him, he banishes Cherubino to the army.

Figaro then turns up with a group of peasants, who want to thank the duplicitous Count. He has recently declared that he's renouncing his "feudal right" to be with any woman in his charge on her wedding night. Figaro promptly suggests that he and Susanna should be married immediately. The Count puts him off. He still has designs on Susanna and since he's given up the feudal right, he's better off while Susanna is still single. The act ends as Figaro teases the lovesick Cherubino about his impending military service. Cherubino (Anna Bonitatibus, center), dressed as Susanna, prepares to deceive the Count. Michael Pohn/Wiener Staatsoper In ACT TWO we meet the Countess, Rosina, for the first time. She has plainly concluded that her marriage is on the rocks. She knows all about her husband's various, adulterous schemes, and expresses her unhappiness as the act begins. She's then joined in her rooms by Susanna and the young page Cherubino, whom the Count has banned from the premises. Together, the three hatch a plan. Cherubino will dress up as Susanna.

Then the Count will be lured to a meeting with this phony Susanna by a letter actually written by Figaro, and the Count's duplicity will be exposed. As the two women are dressing Cherubino for his role, Susanna leaves to find a ribbon. Then the Count knocks on the door. Cherubino can't afford to be discovered alone with the Countess — especially now that he's dressed in drag — so he ducks into a closet. But when the Count enters, Cherubino makes a racket by knocking something over. The Count hears this, and demands to know who is hiding in that closet. The Countess tells him it's Susanna — but refuses to let him see for himself. He angrily leaves to fetch a crowbar, to pry open the locked closet door. The Countess follows to calm him down. Susanna then slips back into the room — and into the closet — as Cherubino leaps out a window into the garden. When the Count and Countess return, both are amazed to see that it actually is Susanna in the closet. The Countess is relieved. The Count is embarrassed, and begs forgiveness for his suspicions.

A gardener then appears exclaiming that someone has just jumped out the window — and that seems like trouble. But Figaro comes to the rescue. He says he's the one who took the flying leap into the geraniums. He also takes advantage of the Count's confusion to renew his demand to marry Susanna. But Bartolo and Marcellina join in. When they produce evidence that Figaro has actually agreed to marry Marcellina, the Count gleefully cancels the wedding. As ACT THREE begins, Susanna hatches her latest scheme. She pretends that she's finally willing to accept the Count's lascivious advances, and suggests a meeting in the palace garden later that night — supposedly her wedding night. The Count eagerly agrees. But when she leaves, he overhears her talking to Figaro. The Count realizes the two are planning some sort trap — but doesn't know how they're going to spring it. Next, a lawyer shows up to rule on exactly who's wedding is about to take place. Just when it looks like Figaro is going to be stuck with Marcellina, he claims that he can't marry her because he may be nobleman, stolen from his parents at birth.

And he reveals a distinctive birthmark on his arm. Seeing that, Marcellina nearly faints. It turns out that she is actually Figaro's mother, and that Dr. Bartolo is his father. Figaro can hardly marry his mother, so Susanna and Figaro can be married at last, much to the Count's chagrin. Everyone leaves to prepare the ceremony and the Countess is left alone wondering what happened to her formerly happy marriage. Susanna joins her, and the two write a letter to the Count, inviting him to meet Susanna later in the garden. They send it off, sealed with a hairpin, which the Count is to return to confirm the meeting. So, Figaro's wedding finally gets underway — and during the confusion of the act's final ensemble, the Count is handed the fateful letter from Susanna. ACT FOUR begins at night in the garden, where the servant girl Barbarina is plaintively searching for something in the dark — a hairpin used to seal a letter she's delivering. Though she's barely a teenager, she's already been the object of the Count's attentions.

Now she's acting as a surreptitious messenger between the Count and her older cousin Susanna, who's just been married. It seems Barbarina is coming of age, and her music suggests that it's not a happy experience. As she searches for the pin, Figaro confronts her. When he discovers she's carrying a message from Susanna to the Count, he's devastated — convinced that Susanna is plotting to betray him. He's even more upset when he hears her nearby, singing about her "lover" — though she's really singing about Figaro himself. Meanwhile, the Count is due any time for his assignation with Susanna. To fool him, the Countess and Susanna have agreed to exchange clothes for the evening. That way, when the Count goes into his seduction routine, he'll be romancing his own wife without knowing it. Before long, Figaro figures the whole thing out and decides to play a joke of his own. He goes to Susanna, pretending he really does think she's the Countess, and turns on the romantic charm. This enrages Susanna, but not for long. She soon realizes what's happening, and they both have a good laugh about it.

Things come to a head when the Count steps in. First he tries to seduce his wife, thinking she's Susanna. Then, when he sees Figaro with a woman the Count thinks is the Countess, he self-righteously accuses her of infidelity. Susanna, still imitating the Countess, begs the Count for forgiveness, and he refuses. At that, the Countess reveals herself, and the Count is finally humbled. This time, it's his turn to ask for pardon. Generously, the Countess embraces him, and the opera ends with both couples reconciled. Opera 'Ghosts of Versailles' may live forever - LA Times Opera 'Ghosts of Versailles' may live forever L.A. Opera's 'Ghosts of Versailles' Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times Joel Sorensen (left) as Wilhelm and Robert Brubaker as Begearss in "The Ghosts of Versailles." Joel Sorensen (left) as Wilhelm and Robert Brubaker as Begearss in "The Ghosts of Versailles." (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) Richard S.

Ginell 'Ghosts of Versailles' is comic and serious, entertaining and erudite, silly and thoughtful Some of the greatest operas are also the most difficult to shove into a narrow category. Others have layer upon layer, which makes them endlessly fascinating. "The Ghosts of Versailles" — the "grand opera buffa" of composer John Corigliano and librettist William M. Hoffman that Los Angeles Opera is bravely and extravagantly staging this month as the centerpiece of its "Figaro Unbound" festival — has both qualities. Does that make it a great opera? Not automatically, and many still differ as to whether "Ghosts" has lived up to the hype and expense of its 1991 premiere at the Metropolitan Opera. But I love it, and I think it has a shot at immortality. It's comic and serious, entertaining and erudite, silly and thoughtful, emotional and mysterious, harrowing and uplifting, intimate and over-the-top — and the more times you see it, the more you'll find in it and the more you'll get out of it.

It helps to be an opera or history buff to get all of the references, reminiscences and send-ups, but it's not necessary. The motivation for "Ghost's" existence is the centuries-old riddle of what to do with the problematic third part of Pierre-Auguste Caron de Beaumarchais' trilogy of Figaro plays — "The Barber of Seville" and "The Marriage of Figaro" are the others —"La mère coupable" ("The Guilty Mother") from 1792. Darius Milhaud was the first to complete an operatic setting in 1966, but its merits have not been tested since. In his most recent movies, Woody Allen has worked with actors including Emma Stone , Colin Firth and Cate Blanchett . This year, the filmmaker will team up with a different kind of star when he directs tenor Placido Domingo in a return engagement of Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi" that will kick off... In his most recent movies, Woody Allen has worked with actors including Emma Stone , Colin Firth and Cate Blanchett .

This year, the filmmaker will team up with a different kind of star when he directs tenor Placido Domingo in a return engagement of Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi" that will kick off... (David Ng) In their new interpretation of "La mere coupable," Corigliano and Hoffmann lifted its characters and some aspects of the plot out of the play and placed them in an opera-within-an-opera that is staged by the ghost of Beaumarchais. His purpose is to entertain fellow ghosts of the Louis XVI court and change the fate of Marie Antoinette, with whom he is in love. By Act 2 of Corigliano and Hoffman's "Ghosts," though, the character of Figaro rebels against his "creator's" goal to save Marie, displaying his radical sympathies in ways that Rossini and Mozart dared not show in their Figaro operas. So Beaumarchais enters his opera himself to try and change Figaro's mind. (Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times) That's just the bare bones of what "Ghosts" is built upon, but Corigliano and Hoffmann open up all kinds of worlds with it.

Extraordinarily resourceful, using avant-garde clusters and microtones to skillfully warped neoclassical and neo-Romantic pastiches, Corigliano is equally comfortable building and mixing the floating ghost world in suspended time, the buffa world of Figaro and the Almaviva court, and the horrible world of the French Revolution. There are too many things going on in this work to give even a partial summary, but there is one other level that's worth touching upon. "Oh, no! Here we go again!" Figaro merrily shouts as he enters the opera-within-an-opera. He is referring to the gaggle of creditors, jealous husbands and other angry folk who are after him for this or that reason. But he is also speaking to opera fans who have long doted upon the unforgettable characters of the Figaro operas and now get another chance to be with them. Perhaps the most emotional moment in the opera comes when Beaumarchais bids farewell to Figaro, his "favorite" character (in many ways, a self-portrait).

For "Ghost's" West Coast premiere at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Saturday night — and the first full production in this country since Lyric Opera of Chicago's two decades ago — L.A. Opera, like the Met, has pulled out a lot of stops. Scenery designer Alexander Dodge's overall set is a handsome impression of a Rococo opera theater slightly warped as if in a dream. One difference with the Met production is the now-common use of doppelgangers; Figaro doesn't physically soar in the middle of his Act 1 aria, his double does, and Beaumarchais now duels with Louis XVI's stand-in. Stage director Darko Tresnjak often has a lot of traffic to direct in a small space, particularly in the wild Turkish embassy scene that closes Act 1, but the work itself seems like a deliberate clutter at that point, and so it fits. The cast is huge and talented, led by Patricia Racette as a formidable Marie Antoinette, not vulnerable and fragile as was the original Marie at the Met, Teresa Stratas, but every inch a queen and no less passionate.

Christopher Maltman was a sonorous, heroic Beaumarchais; Lucas Meacham sang Figaro's Rossini-meets-Gilbert-and-Sullivan introductory aria with diction about as clear as the rapid patter will permit. Samira the Egyptian singer is really just an inserted star-turn that plays no part in the plot, and Broadway's Patti LuPone sang it with her own comic dialect touches. Robert Brubaker was the dastardly cartoon villain Bégearss; Lucy Schaufer as Susanna was appealing, as were Joshua Guerrero (Count Almaviva), Guanqun Yu (Rosina), Brenton Ryan (Léon) and Stacey Tappan (Florestine) as the Almavivas. James Conlon conducted the large pit orchestra with fire and care, particularly reveling in the delicious aleatoric illustrations of the ghost world and Corigliano's extraordinary writing for brass. One regret is that L.A.

Opera's Figaro cycle is not being performed in chronological order , which would have given "The Ghosts of Versailles" even more cumulative impact if placed after "The Barber of Seville" and "The Marriage of Figaro." But there will be a ghostly afterlife for this production, for L.A. Opera is recording it in audio for release sometime "next fall," according to L.A. Opera President and Chief Executive Christopher Koelsch. It ought to be a treat. The Marriage of Figaro Photos and Synopsis Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Synopsis/plot Following is a synopsis and brief history of Mozart's opera of The Marriage of Figaro (La nozze di Figaro). Photos are from the Opera production staged at various theaters throughout Central Florida during the month of November 2003. Susanna, and in select performances Cherubino, was sung by Elizabeth Harmetz, soprano. HISTORY: The Marriage of Figaro (Le mariage de Figaro) subtitled The Craziest Day (La folle journée) is the second in the Figaro trilogy of plays by Beaumarchais and follows the action of The Barber of Seville .

Beaumarchais completed work on both plays in 1773 (Barber of Seville) & 1778 (Marriage of Figaro). The plays were considered scandalous at the time due to its depiction of incompetent and hedonistic nobleman being outwitted by a quick-witted servant. Performances were opposed by French censors and Louis XVI due to their"class subversion" theme until 1775 and 1784 respectively. Beaumarchais' trilogy concludes with The Guilty Mother. The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro were high examples of Eighteenth century light comedy but now are almost exclusively remembered by the respective operas of Rossini and Mozart. There have been other Musical settings of Figaro than Mozart's but Mozart's Marriage of Figaro is noted for its richness of musical invention and subtle characterization. Classified as an Opera Buffa, Mozart's 4 act opera is consistently ranked as one of the most beloved and most performed operas in today's standard repertoire. Lorenzo da Ponte wrote the libretto for Mozart's adaptation which was first performed at the Vienna Burgtheater, May 1, 1786.

Mozart collaborated with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte on only two other operas: Cosi fan tutte and Don Giovanni. Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K.492 (1756 - 1791) Librettist: Lorenzo da Ponte (1749 - 1838) Dramatist: Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799) Preceding action: With the assistance of Figaro (see The Barber of Seville ), the Count Almaviva has married Rosina, the young ward of Dr. Bartolo. To the disappointment of the Countess Almaviva the Count seems to be making advances upon certain other ladies in his employ. Figaro has since entered service with the Count and as the first scene opens is making preparations for his upcoming marriage to Susanna, Rosina's maid. Action takes place in the castle of Aguasfrescas. SYNOPSIS: ACT I Figaro, the Counts manservant, is measuring the room to see if the new bed will fit.

The Count Almaviva has given this room to Figaro because it lies between, and has equal access from, the bed chamber of both Almaviva and the Countess. Susanna dislikes this arrangement and reveals to Figaro that the amorous Almaviva wants to enforce his 'droit de seigneur' on her wedding night and Figaro vows to outwit the Count. Dr Bartolo, who holds a grudge against Figaro (see The Barber of Seville ), and his longtime housekeeper Marcellina hatch a plan to force Figaro to marry the much older Marcellina. Susanna and Marcellina despise each other and upon meeting each other they respond to each other with mock courtesy. When Susanna is alone the page Cherubino enters and appeals to Susanna to ask the Countess to save him from the Count who plans to dismiss him. Cherubino's reflections on his love for the Countess are interrupted when Almaviva approaches so he hides under a chair. The Count Almaviva arrives to seduce Susanna but when the sly rumor-monger Don Basilio approaches Almaviva hides behind a chair.

Unable to stay hidden while Basilio insinuates impropriety Almaviva angrily appears. In reenacting how he had just found Cherubino hiding in Barbarina's room the Count unveils Cherubino in Susanna's room. Figaro enters with a chorus of peasants and thanks the Count for his previous renouncement of his feudal rights and asks Almaviva to marry him and Susanna. Publicly trapped, the count affirms. As the chorus exits, Almaviva, angry that Cherubino has heard the whole of his amorous conversation with Susanna, and possibly his prior conversation with Barbarina, drafts him as Captain and orders him to depart at once to his new regiment. Figaro mockingly apprises Cherubino of what life in the army will be like. ACT II The Countess laments the loss of her husbands love and vows to win him back. With the prompting of Figaro and Susanna they conspire a plot to chasten him: they will dress Cherubino up as Susanna in order to catch the Count red-handed in an illicit rendezvous. As Figaro departs he sends in the love-smitten Cherubino who promptly sings a love song to the Countess.

Alone in the Countess' bedchamber the Countess and Susanna playfully dress up Cherubino in women's clothes but are interrupted by Almaviva's knock at the door. Susanna had already exited to an ante-chamber so the flustered Countess locks Cherubino in the closet. The Count enters and is immediately suspicious of the locked door to his wife's bed chamber. Believing someone to be hiding in the locked closet the Count vows to break into it and takes his wife with him as he departs to fetch his tools, locking the exterior door as he goes. Susanna returns to release Cherubino but with the exit locked Cherubino jumps out of the balcony window to flee. Susanna then hides in the closet. The Countess returns and confesses that Cherubino is in the closet but both are surprised when instead Susanna walks out. Almaviva is chastened for his suspicions and begs forgiveness. Figaro enters to gather everyone for the wedding but the Count confronts him with a letter. Unaware of what just transpired, Figaro denies knowledge. Antonio the gardener noisily bumbles in to complain about flowers that were damaged by a man jumping out the window.

Figaro, finally understanding the situation, says it was he that jumped out and starts to limp to prove it. Marcellina enters with Dr Bartolo and Basilio to claim that Figaro must marry Marcellina as a legal promise for an unpaid debt. ACT III Susanna tries to lead on the Count that she is receptive to his advances but Almaviva begins to suspect a plot against him. Marcellina, with the legal assistance of Dr Bartolo and Don Curzio presses her claim that Figaro must marry her. Figaro delays by saying he cannot marry because his parents are missing. He reveals a birthmark on his arm which the elated Marcellina recognizes as belonging to her long lost son. Marcellina introduces Figaro to her father: Dr Bartolo. Susanna enters and misconstrues the maternal embrace between Figaro and Marcellina. Dr Bartolo finally honors Marcellina marriage claims by agreeing to wed at the wedding of Figaro and Susanna. The Countess plots to win back her husband. She helps Susanna compose a letter that will reaffirm Susanna's illicit rendezvous with the Count in the garden. The letter is sealed with a pin which must be returned as confirmation.

During the wedding ceremony Susanna passes the note to Almaviva. ACT IV Barbarina is alone in the garden looking for the pin that the Count charged her to return to Susanna. Figaro is unaware of the plot hatched by the Countess and hides to catch his new wife 'in flagrante' with Almaviva on their wedding night. Susanna (disguised as the Countess) enters the garden aware of Figaro and sings of her pure love for her husband before hiding. Cherubino enters expecting to rendezvous with Barbarina but instead spies the Countess (disguised as Susanna) and takes her as Susanna. Cherubino attempts to seduce Susanna when Almaviva arrives for his rendezvous with Susanna and witnesses the usurping seducer. Almaviva intervenes between them, mistakenly gets a kiss from Cherubino and in chasing Cherubino off unknowingly slaps the cuckolded Figaro. The Countess, (disguised as Susanna) takes her leave and Almaviva departs after her.

Susanna returns (still dressed as the Countess) and Figaro approaches her to plot revenge against Susanna but Figaro quickly recognizes Susanna's voice. Figaro pretends to seduce the Countess which infuriates the disguised Susanna who then reveals herself to the laughing Figaro. They continue the charade of Figaro seducing the Countess. The Count Almaviva witnesses Figaro seducing his wife and outraged, awakens everyone on the estate to witness his judgment. In the final denouement the real Countess enters, pretenses and disguises are removed and a humbled Almaviva asks Rosina for her forgiveness. Amidst the darkness of the night all the characters join together to sing an anthem of Love.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE / CHARACTERS: Utah Opera's 'Figaro' is one marriage you won't want to miss | The Salt Lake Tribune Utah Opera’s ‘Figaro’ is one marriage you won’t want to miss By Catherine Reese Newton The Salt Lake Tribune First Published May 08 2016 03:48PM • Last Updated May 09 2016 09:15 am (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Opera's Zulimar LÛpez-Hern·ndez 'Susanna,' Craig Irvin 'Count Almaviva' and Seth Carico 'Figaro,' perform during a rehearsal of "The Marriage of Figaro" at the Capitol Theatre Wednesday April 27, 2016. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Opera's Zulimar LÛpez-Hern·ndez 'Susanna,' Craig Irvin 'Count Almaviva' and Seth Carico 'Figaro,' perform during a rehearsal of "The Marriage of Figaro" at the Capitol Theatre Wednesday April 27, 2016.

Review » The company’s season finale is 3½ hours of operatic bliss. Share This Article ARTICLE PHOTO GALLERY (3) Early in the rehearsal period for Utah Opera's season-ending production of "The Marriage of Figaro," conductor Gary Thor Wedow described the Mozart opera as "so joyous, I could go back into the pit [after a performance] and conduct it again. It's like a battery pack." By the end of Saturday's opening performance, the Capitol Theatre audience must have known exactly what Wedow meant. This production is 3½ hours of pure operatic bliss. Artistic director Christopher McBeth has assembled a first-class cast, led by bass-baritone Seth Carico, possibly the most charismatic Figaro ever to grace the Capitol Theatre stage. Carico sang with power, accuracy and good humor, elevating the energy level every time he appeared onstage Saturday. His chemistry with soprano Zulimar López-Hernández, who portrays Susanna, was genuine and charming. López-Hernández's acting — through her sparkling voice, movement and facial expressions — was flawless.

Soprano Nicole Heaston balanced poignancy and pluck in her portrayal of Countess Rosina Almaviva; baritone Craig Irvin was a strong foil, playing Count Almaviva as a suave bully who was redeemed by a lightning bolt of compassion at the end of the opera. VIDEOS TOP JOBS Mezzo Abigail Levis was a firecracker as Cherubino, delivering the lovestruck page's arias with effervescent lightness. Bass Patrick Blackwell and mezzo Melissa Parks were perfectly matched as Bartolo and Marcellina, setting off comic sparks (and showing a knack for snappy patter) the moment they burst onstage. Tenor Joseph Gaines, baritone Christopher Clayton and tenor Christian Sanders delivered strong stage presence and solid singing as Figaro's antagonists Basilio, Antonio and Curzio. Soprano Jessica Jones' Barbarina has only one aria, but it's a gem, and Jones sang it beautifully. Conducting without a baton, Wedow led the Utah Symphony — fresh off its triumphant appearance in Carnegie Hall — in a magnificent performance of Mozart's glorious score.

Whether nimbly illuminating the comedic hijinks or tenderly comforting Heaston in her gorgeous performance of the aria "Dove sono," the orchestra was always on point. Carol Anderson's harpsichord playing provided the perfect accent. The Utah Opera Chorus, prepared this time by Melanie Malinka, also excelled. Stage director Tara Faircloth delivered just the right amount of physical comedy while making sure the characters' humanity always rang true. Under her direction, every movement and gesture, even in the choreographed moments, propelled the story naturally. Susan Memmott Allred's fabulous new costume designs, inspired by the period drama "Downton Abbey," set the production in the early 20th century — an inspired touch that highlighted the class differences central to the opera's plot. Yancey Quick's wig and makeup designs completed the picture. Your first opera: What should it be? And why? | Music | The Guardian Tom Service on classical music Your first opera: What should it be? And why? Ahead of our exciting Inside Opera live-streamed event on 10 May that will showcase some of the dynamic and complex productions in opera houses today, Tom Service considers which would be the best opera to take a first-timer to.

What did you see first? Thursday 8 May 2014 03.00 EDT Last modified on Friday 9 May 2014 11.43 EDT Share on Messenger Close What should your first opera be? That’s a pretty strange starter-for-ten, when you think about it. No-one ever asks, “what should your first movie be”? Anything from Bambi to Star Wars to The Lego Movie to Solaris (well, alright, maybe not that) would do, and whatever your response, no-one would ever claim that their first film had either converted them completely to cinema or put them off it for life. Likewise books. Or TV. Or pretty much any other art form. The very question itself is part of the opera's image problem. Pinterest Video: Stephen Fry tells Alan Davies why Don Giovanni is the opera he would recommend to newcomers. Another is the false perception of its essential disengagement from the real world. When you enter the Theatre Royal in Glasgow or the Wales Millennium Centre , you’re passing through portals into another world of heightened sensuality and surreally enhanced emotions. Or at least you should be, if the performance you’re seeing is any good.

And that’s where, as an art-form, opera’s true engagement with the world is to be found: in heightening the love stories, myths, tragedies, and comedies of human existence, opera is more real than real life. In its potential for expressive intensity, excessive emotional impact – its direct human engagement, in other words - there really is nothing to compete with what opera can make you feel. The trick is to get there in the first place, which returns me to the initial question, which opera should you see if you’ve never been before? My own induction aged 10 was Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro , and while I didn’t then understand all the machinations of the plot (mind you, I’m not totally sure I do now), the sheer ravishment of the music blew me away. I didn’t then recognise Figaro’s seditious humour, its critique of Enlightenment values, or the characters’ darknesses, pains, and sensualities, but that’s the piece that started a lifetime of operatic discovery for me, and I would definitely recommend it. Pinterest Wagner's Parsifal - another possible starting point?

Photograph: Tristram Kenton Probably the most important thing to remember is that no single opera can hope to sum up the whole art-form. If you’re bored to the point of chewing off your limbs sitting through Wagner’s Parsifal rather than Puccini’s La Bohème (or the other way round!), don’t despair. You’re in good company if you can’t get on with Wagner and/or Verdi , or if you find Handel just a trifle tedious, or think Berg is just too violently excessive and excessively violent. In fact, the great opera composers aren’t really engaged in the same art-form at all: a Handel opera is as different from a Wagnerian music-drama as a pop-up book is from a 3D movie (nothing pejorative there; you could make a case for either metaphor for working for both composers). However, there will be something out there in the operatic canon that takes you into that magical, hyper-real place, I promise! Pinterest 'Compact and compelling'... Janáček's Cunning Little Vixen, in Glyndebourne's 2012 production, with Lucy Crowe as the Vixen.

Photograph: Tristram Kenton Nonetheless, you can give yourself more of a chance if you identify with the following operatic characteristics: if you’re an artistic adrenaline junkie, the composer you have to hear is Janáček, whose operas cram all of the intensity and story-telling of much longer operas into music that’s shorter than your average Hollywood release. Try the tragedy of Katya Kabanova , the laceratingly moving, I find, The Makropulos Case , or the earthy anthropomorphism of The Cunning Little Vixen . All of those pieces have the potential to change what you think you thought about opera, since they’re compact, their energy never flags, and they’re completely compelling stories. And if you enjoy Janáček, you have to hear the joyous, transcendent chaos and intensity of Irish composer Gerald Barry’s operas, like his The Importance of Being Earnest . Often, it’s the cosseting accoutrements of the operatic experience that are off-putting, which is where contemporary opera has much of its power, since many new operas speak a language that cuts through centuries-old operatic conventions.

If that sounds like what you want, try and hear or see Harrison Birtwistle’s operas or smaller-scale music theatre works, such as Gawain or Yan Tan Tethera ; get along to ENO’s production of Julian Anderson’s Thebans ; listen to George Benjamin’s eviscerating Written on Skin ; or hear Thomas Adès’s magical The Tempest . Pinterest ... or try Thomas Adès's 'magical' Tempest. (Here, Cyndia Sieden as Ariel in The Royal Opera House's 2007 production). Photograph: Tristram Kenton But for more conventional introductions to the world of opera, Verdi’s Otello is one of the most thrilling stories ever told in music, I reckon; mind you, as is his La Traviata or Falstaff . Then there’s Puccini – Tosca ! Turandot ! Madama Butterfly ! And Wagner. Why not plunge straight in at the deep end and experience The Ring cycle?

It was written to change the world, after all, so it should change yours, and there’s no more arresting opening or ending to any operatic drama than the start of Das Rheingold or the climax of Götterdämmerung . And the 15 hours in between aren’t bad either. And then there’s Britten; the outsider drama of Peter Grimes , the ghost story of The Turn of the Screw , the sea-lashed but claustrophobic drama of Billy Budd . You see? And that’s merely a scratching of the operatic surface; I haven’t even mentioned Monteverdi , without whom none of the above could have happened. Opera is the hardest art-form in the world to pull off, with its multi-dimensions of music, sets, lighting, stage management – and a bit of singing too... And if I had to recommend one company to see over all the others to make opera the visceral, meaningful, contemporary experience that it always should be, it would be Graham Vick’s Birmingham Opera Company .

The BOC do things with operas from Mussorgsky to Stockhausen that no other company in the country is managing, turning these gigantic pieces into experiences that are made by, and matter to, the community of professionals, amateurs, volunteers, and audiences, whether they’re staged in disused factories or tents in local parks. BOC productions really show us what opera can and should be. What was your first opera? Did it generate in you a passion for more, or did it bore you to tears and put you off for life? What would you take a friend to who says he hates opera but has actually never been to one? Tell us below, and join us on Saturday afternoon for Inside Opera: Live. Join the UK's seven main opera companies from 2-6pm (BST) on 10 May and get inside the world of opera in this unprecedented live event. Join the conversation on twitter via #insideopera Published: 9 May 2014

Question: Which opera has 'Count Alvaviva' as one of the central characters?
Answer: 'MARRIAGE OF FIGARO'